Hay on Wye literary festival comes Kerala

Kochi, May 14 (IANS) The literary circuit in India is slated to get a tad more congested with the world’s most prestigious literary festival, the Hay on Wye festival, slated to come to Kerala in November this year.The Hay festival — held every year in May-June in the quaint Welsh border town by the same name — is being developed as a global brand and already runs a literary festival in Colombia, two in Spain and one in Kenya. Apart from Kerala, the Hay festival will this year go to the Maldives as well.

With the Hay festival’s arrival in Kerala, the state will now be hosting its second international literary festival, after the Kovalam Literary Festival, which holds its third edition this year Oct 1-3 with Pakistani writing as the theme.

Thiruvananthapuram will thus become another hot destination for the globe-trotting literati, consisting of agents and publishers, during the peak festival season. A festival in Bali and the Frankfurt Book Fair are also held in October-November.

“Kerala holds the rank of being the most literate state in the country and we thus hope to engage the audiences in discussions, debates, talks, etc. over the three-day festival,” the Hay festival note for sponsors said.

Lyndy Cooke, CEO of the festival, is in India scouting for sponsors, and was in Thiruvananthapuram last week.

In the first year of the festival, 10 international writers, 10 Indian writers and 10 emerging authors will be invited.

“It is a positive sign that big brands are coming to Kerala with top writers after we opened up the market and gave the Kerala literary scene a global colour. Local media interest in such festivals is huge,” said Binoo John, Director of the Kovalam Literary Festival.

The main Hay on Wye festival, on from May 27, hosts about 300 writers. The Hay Festival Kerala is unlikely to become as big considering that it is being managed by Teamworks, which also runs the Jaipur festival.